Economy

• Tuesday, November 29th 2011 - 05:56 UTC

  Private sector will gradually replace Cuban government services beginning 2012

  

  The Cuban government will begin contracting out some services to the private sector next year in a break from the state-dominated past aimed at helping small business develop, government insiders said on Monday.

• Tuesday, November 29th 2011 - 05:53 UTC

  Markets react positively to talks for speeding the EU decision making process

  

  Germany and France stepped up a drive on Monday for intrusive powers to reject national budgets in the Euro zone that breach EU rules, as a market rout of European debt eased temporarily on hopes of outside help for Italy and Spain.

• Tuesday, November 29th 2011 - 02:09 UTC

  Fitch warns of US triple A rating downgrade if policy makers fail on budget cuts

  

  Fitch Ratings on Monday warned it may cut the United States' AAA rating if policymakers fail to agree in 2013 on a plan to reduce the country's ballooning budget deficits.

• Monday, November 28th 2011 - 21:10 UTC

  Argentina’s Techint moves strongly into Brazil steel business

  

  The Techint Group agreed to pay 5.03 billion Reais (2.7 billion dollars) for a 27.7% voting stake in Brazil’s Usinas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais to boost access to the largest market for steel in Latin America.

• Monday, November 28th 2011 - 21:04 UTC

  Brazil preparing stimuli plan to boost manufacturing and create jobs

  

  Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff said that the country’s economy which slowed down in the last quarter will retake growth and generate more jobs based on government plans to expand manufacturing.

• Monday, November 28th 2011 - 17:06 UTC

  Argentina confirms high seas boarding of Spanish fleet fishing in Falklands

  

  The Argentine government has stepped up its official blockade policy against the Falkland Islands warning Spanish fishing vessels are operating ‘illegally’ in the South Atlantic, since they have not requested licences from the Argentine government, and controls over those activities will continue.

• Sunday, November 27th 2011 - 08:11 UTC

  IMF chief praises Latinamerica, which can provide ‘some lessons to the advanced world’

  

  IMF chief Christine Lagarde who this week will be visiting Latinamerica said that Brazil, Mexico and Peru, like to many other countries in the region have done remarkably well over the past few years and can provide some lessons to the advanced countries.

• Sunday, November 27th 2011 - 08:07 UTC

  Lagarde leaves Argentina out of tour for not complying with understanding

  

  IMF chief specifically excluded Argentina from its coming Latinamerican tour because the government of President Cristina Fernandez still has to comply with what was agreed last July, basically normalizing the controversial INDEC stats office and open its books to auditing as happens with all other members of the G20.

• Sunday, November 27th 2011 - 05:54 UTC

  Petrobras domestic oil production stable at 2m bpd during October

  

  Brazil's government managed oil and gas company Petrobras said on Friday its average October domestic crude output remained stable versus September at 2.00 million barrels per day.

• Sunday, November 27th 2011 - 01:17 UTC

  UNASUR agrees to promote inter-trade and make operational infrastructure bank

  

  Unasur (Union of South American Nations) Economy and Finance ministers plus Central bank governors agreed to promote inter-regional trade as a way to cope with the incoming international crisis and anticipated that the South (development) Bank would formally be in operations in three weeks time.